NPRINS

Dear readers, I originally planned to join the Colette Anise Sew-Along! I fell in love with Sarai's version.  So, I planned to make my own version as well with the green wool below. Oops - only 2.5 yards rather than the 4.5  3 and 3/8 yards the pattern calls for (ed.  oops!). So, this project is (sadly) delayed until I find a fabric I'm equally in love with.  I am going to make a flowy skirt with the green wool from a self drafted pattern. Has this ever happened to you?   True, I normally buy 2.5 yards when I'm out and about - I never think about 4 - 8 yards.  I guess I need an attitude adjustment while fabric shopping and stashing. P.

Dear readers, I apologize for the delay in blogging - I've had some family medical problems, coupled with an extremely busy work schedule involving five weeks of travel this fall!  Again, no excuses -  I finished this blouse early November, and I am just now getting around to blogging it. Here is the creation, I darkened the hue to magnify the colors. . .  First, I used my sloper to modify the pattern - which is very well executed.  The pattern directions are a dream.  The collar method was a bit different than I've used before for peter pan collars.  I made a mistake. Yep.  As you can see below - the shirt contains no dart at the bustline.  My sloper is based on a princess seam.  I rotated the dart and added length at the bottom; unfortunately I measured incorrectly and the front was 1" shorter or more than the back.  So I took out the dart, leading to the blousey front as you see below! Other than this - a wonderful pattern.  I mu...

Hello Readers! I've finally finished the Colette Macaron - despite a blunder with my blind stitch hem this morning. I'm fairly pleased with it.  I made it out of Echino Fabric (from the fabulous  Sew-LA ). . . which is a very thin cotton linen blend.  I took my time to make the dress - and I think the two mistakes I made were:  (1)  the upper band isn't totally straight (I'm thinking of re-attaching), and (2) the side with the invisible zipper doesn't match! (Update:  Late morning day of post - the pictures on this blog convinced me to re-sew/re-attach the upper midriff band - it looks a lot better now!!). I've posted the pix below: I did some new techniques on this dress - I stabilized the neck with silk ribbon and did the armholes the same way.  I lined the dress with a very thin high quality cotton - although I've had a hard time getting the lining perfect. I topstitched both the neckline and sleeves because of the light weight quality of the fabric...

Dear readers, Yes! I've finally 90% done with the Macaron. All I need to do is press and hem tomorrow!   Here I am below lining up the skirt to the bodice. . . Here, I actually took the time to line up  and mark the straight lines so that the waistline is seemingly straight. . .  I am doing a quick lining.  Which means lining to the neck and sleeve line.  So to reinforce the neckline and sleeves I have not only used my lightweight interfacing but also sewing in some silk ribbon I had bought "just in case" for this project!  It has worked out wonderfully.  I also used the silk ribbon to line invisible zipper to reinforce it.   Of course, every project has its mistakes it seems.  Two of mine:  I couldn't figure out the lining!  For example, my last dress I lined easily - but now I remember that it has a back zipper - this dress has a side zipper.  I must have forgot how I did the lining on my other macaron!   And, I made my ...

Dear readers! I'm attempting to refine my sewing.  Hence, I am only completing the bodice and lining and working on precision. This is the bodice to Colette Pattern Macaron.  Although I made it before I was not happy with the results!!  This is a basted version with a stitch size of 5.0.  It still fits well! The skirt will be made of the material below: It's a Japanese fabric called Echino (it's a linen cotton mix) that I bought from Sew-LA. I am lining it - although the pattern doesn't call for it.  I chose a very light cotton material to line it.  It is very thin - so  hopefully it will work out well. I am working to slowly fit the bodice and line the bodice (sleeveless) and I hope that this brings more precision to my work and more tailoring techniques.  I need to improve my technique! Today I plan to finish the bodice and lining and attach to the bodice only!  I am trying to slow down. Finally, my dressform is exactly my size with the exc...